Then the tragedy of the Bataclan massacre in Paris occurred in November, where 130 people lost their lives. In the United States alone, whether one counts the total number of mass shootings, regardless of the number of deaths, or the number of mass shootings with 3 or more deaths changes the number of mass shootings counted drastically. Lankford's 2016 study gathered data on gun ownership in countries with more than 10 million people and occurrences of at least one public mass-shooting resulting in four or more deaths. The Early Warning Project is a joint initiative of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. In fact, our 330 million population has the same number of people as the 140 smallest countries in the world. Countries with the Highest Rates of Firearm-Related Suicide (per 100k) in 2019 Greenland 16.36 United States 7.12 Uruguay 4.74 San Marino 4.08 Montenegro 3.40 The claim that the US has by far the most mass public shootings in the world drives much of the gun-control debate. This data would not have changed the position of the U.S. on the list, but its absence could lead a reader to believeincorrectlythat the U.S. experienced fewer mass shooting fatalities per capita than all but a handful of countries in Europe. One of them took place in September 2001, when a gunman killed fourteen people and injured eighteen more in Zug. In fact, according to CNN, it isnt even close. In 2016, at least seven people were killed when a gunman opened fire on shoppers at Munichs Olympia shopping mall, while in 2015 a gunman killed six people in an attack near Liege in Belgium. The ten countries with the highest number of mass shootings are the US, Russia, France, Germany, Canada, Finland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy, and the Netherlands. That said, mass shootings actually comprise only a fraction of the overall gun deaths in the United States. Sadly, these are only a few examples out of the many other mass shootings to occur in Europe over the past few years that have resulted in numerous fatalities and victims injured. These tragic events have raised awareness of gun violence and terrorism in France. The perpetrator was then arrested by the police. There have been four mass shootings in Canada, ranking the country fifth in the world in terms of the number of mass shootings. It remains a serious issue and has been on the rise over recent years. The GVA's top five states for mass shootings per capita are: Louisiana: 3.44 per million. Keywords: mass public shootings, cross-country data, mass murder, terrorism. Sweden stands out for a high level of gun homicide compared with other European countries, at about 4 deaths per million inhabitants per year. The second-highest is in Louisiana: 9.34 per 100,000. The second shooting occurred on May 24th, 2014 when a gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people. "There are more guns in this country than people, and more per capita than any other country in the world. The minimum age to obtain a license is 21, and guns need to be registered. Germany 5 5. The whole episode should provide a cautionary tale of academic malpractice and how evidence is often cherry-picked and not questioned when it fits preconceived ideas. When findings do not mesh, scholars, in pursuit of truth, generally compare notes, data, and methodology to find out how they reached their conclusions. Similarly, some databases include events in which at least four people were wounded, but not necessarily killed. Lankford's findings show that there were 90 mass public shooters in America since 1966, the most in the world, which had a total of 202. Switzerland 2. United States 101 2. In other words: firearms per capita. We know of no way to discover most of the cases where four people have been shot to death in an incident in Africa or many other parts of the world during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s or even 1990s, and that is the reason the new study just looked at the last 15 years from 1998 to 2012 of the 47 years he examined. With the country's strictest gun control laws, California probably shouldn't hold itself out as a model for the rest of the country to follow. Out of the 101 countries where we have identified mass public shootings occurring, the United States ranks 66thin per capita frequency of these attacks and 56thin the murder rate. There has been a much bigger increase over time in the number of mass shootings in the rest of the world compared to the USA. Countries with ongoing mass killing episodes are indicated with this icon . The gun murder and gun suicide rates in the U.S. both remain below their peak levels. There have been three mass shootings in Finland, ranking the country sixth in the world in terms of the number of mass shootings. Where does the United States appear? In terms of rates of private gun ownership, the United States of America rules, at least by official data, rules the planet. Myth 3: Mass shootings are responsible for a high percentage of gun deaths. When defined as four or more people shot, 2021's total is 13.4 percent higher than 2020. America now averages 8.5 mass shooting incidents per week. In the District of Columbia, the rate is 18.5 per 100,000 the highest in the United States. If you ask most Americans today which country leads the world in mass shootings, I suspect a vast majority would say the US. Attacks in the US are not only less frequent than other countries, they are also much less deadly on average." It added, "Out of the 97 countries where we have identified mass public shootings occurring, the United States ranks 64th in the per capita frequency of these attacks and 65th in the murder rate." More recent data out of the US suggests that gun ownership grew significantly over the last several years. The following year, a man attacked pedestrians with knives in Turku, Finland and killed two people before being shot by police. During this time, 62% of all 1,318 fatalities from the atta In each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings, almost two a day on average. Read about our approach to external linking. Based on the leadership principles of George Washington, we provide citizens, voters, and elected officials with the information, insights, and tools that amplify democracy in the modern age. California has 253.7. Mass shootings in Europe have become an increasingly alarming phenomenon in recent years. Firearm death rates in the United States by state, List of countries by intentional homicide rate, List of U.S. states and territories by violent crime rate, List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate, List of United States cities by crime rate (2012), Percent of households with guns by country, United States cities by crime rate (100,000250,000), United States cities by crime rate (60,000-100,000), Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country, "Guns in Singapore: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Venezuela Gun Facts, Figures and the Law", "Guns in Argentina: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Australia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Austria: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Azerbaijan: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Barbados: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Belarus: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Belgium: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Bolivia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Bulgaria: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Canada: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Colombia Gun Facts, Figures and the Law", "Costa Rica Gun Facts, Figures and the Law", "Croatia Gun Facts, Figures and the Law", "Guns in Cuba: Gun Facts, Figures and the Law", "Guns in Cyprus: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Czech Republic: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Denmark: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in El Salvador: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Estonia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Swaziland: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Finland: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in France: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Georgia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Germany: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Greece: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Guatemala: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Honduras: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Hong Kong: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Hungary: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in India: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Victims Murdered by use of Fire Arms 2016", "Guns in Ireland: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Israel: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Italy: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Jamaica: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Japan: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Kuwait: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Kyrgyzstan: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Latvia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Luxembourg: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Mexico: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Moldova: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Montenegro: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Netherlands: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in New Zealand: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Nicaragua: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers", "Guns in Macedonia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Norway: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Panama: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Paraguay: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Peru: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Philippines: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Poland: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Portugal: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Qatar: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Romania: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Russia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Serbia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Slovakia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Slovenia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in South Africa: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in South Korea: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Spain: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Sweden: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Switzerland: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", Homicides: crimes solved and trend by instrument (perpetrated and attempted), number of accused persons and victims 2009-2019, "Homicides: Crimes solved and trend by instrument (Perpetrated and attempted), number of accused persons and victims - 2009-2019 | Table | Federal Statistical Office", "Guns in Taiwan: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Turkish Homicide by Firearms Statistics", " 2016 , - 20%. The comments and data seem to conclusively say that the US leads the world in mass shootings and the violence is unique, a product of Americas gun culture.. Where did the U.S. rank? Mass shootings are part of the larger issue of overall gun violence, which is notably higher in the United States than in other wealthy and developed countries. Figures from the Gun Violence Archive - a non-profit research database - shows that the number of mass shootings has gone up significantly in recent years. While calculating the number of guns in private hands around the world is difficult, the latest figures from the Small Arms Survey - a Swiss-based leading research project - estimate that there were 390 million guns in circulation in 2018. According to the 2018 Small Arms Survey, there are an estimated 34.7 firearms . The law was backed by the NRA, and leaders within the organisation called the move "a monumental moment for the Second Amendment". JEL Classification: K14. This is a table which is giving information about "firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population per year". One of the main causes for the vast range of stances on mass shootings is that reliable data on mass shootings can be notoriously difficult to obtainwhat's more, the data that does exist is often incompatible with data from other sources. With another mass shooting in California, number 19 since 1984, the state leads the nation in most deaths from these kinds of violent killingsbut only because it is by far the most populous state. But after a long period of decline, deadly shootings began to increase in the mid-2000s and. Thus, in a typical year, most countries experience zero mass shooting deaths, while the US experiences at least a few. Which continent has the most mass shootings ? In Bangladesh, it's 0.07 deaths per 100,000. Twains quote remains true even in the age of the internet. Central and Eastern Europe have had a lower frequency of mass shootings than the US, according to Alexei Anisin from the Anglo American University in Prague. Not included are homicides, suicides, accidental deaths, or justifiable deaths by any means other than by firearm. In each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings, almost two a day on average. The media should be wary of any researchers who fail to let others look at their data. The figure represents a 34% increase from 2019, and a 75% increase over the course of the previous decade. Canada has one of the world's highest per-capita gun ownership rates. When Lankfords data is revised, the relationship between gun ownership rates and mass public shooters disappears. There have been 214 mass shootings defined by Gun Violence Archive as one in which at least 4 people were shotin the US within the first 145 days of the year. 2023 BBC. Norway, Finland, France, and Switzerland have at least 49 percent higher rates of murder from mass public shootings than the United States. Systematic comparison of 195 countries and territories for the period from 1990 to 2016: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Fast Facts -, This page was last edited on 27 January 2023, at 01:58. Three of the top five countries with the most gun deaths overall are in South America, one is in North America, and one is in Asia. Between 1998 and 2019, numerous other incidents across the country saw multiple victims injured or killed by firearms. The highest on record is 18 mass shootings in one week (July 13, 2015). . There are approximately 55 guns for every 100 people in Yemen compared to about 89 for every 100 in the US, according to the survey. Not only have these attacks been much more common outside the USA, the USAs share of these attacks has declined over time. In 2013, another mass shooting occurred near the city of Menznau, where a man killed four people and injured five others. To justify this claim and many other similar quotes, Obamas administration cited a then-unpublished paper by criminologist Adam Lankford. After France comes Germany, as the fourth country with the most mass shootings, with 5 mass shootings, followed by Canada and Finland both with 4 mass shootings each. Lankford hasnt released his list of shootings or even the number of cases by country or year. Theres just one problem: Lankford isnt talking. The US accounts for 73 percent of 139 mass shootings that occurred in developed countries between 1998 to 2019, according to a new study. On a per capita basis, there were 13.6 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 - the highest rate since the mid-1990s, but still well below the peak of 16.3 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 1974. One of the more detailed analyses appeared on the fact-checking website snopes.com and concluded that the CRPC report used inappropriate statistical methods which led to misleading results. Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times. There have been two mass shootings in Switzerland, ranking the country eleventh in the world in terms of the number of mass shootings. Czech Republic 2 9. In Kuwait, even the bullets need to be licensed. The U.S. endures the most mass shootings in the world, withdepending upon one's definition of a mass shooting (see next section)somewhere between 21 and more than 600 in 2020. A new report from the Crime Prevention Research Center, which one of us heads, has just finished collecting cases using the same definition of mass public shootings used by Lankford. If you asked me this morning which nation has the most mass shootings in the world, I would have said, with perhaps a flicker of hesitation, the United States. In addition, a 2018 CRPC study ranked the U.S. at number sixty-four in the world in terms of mass shooting rates per capita. The deadliest such attack, in Las Vegas in 2017, killed more than 50 people and left 500 wounded. In 2019 and 2020, numerous mass shootings have occurred across the globe, leaving hundreds of people dead or injured. The source defines a mass shooting as a shooting where three or. Alabama: 1. . A May 24 massacre at a Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead has reignited the debate over guns and focused attention on the uniquely high rate of school shootings. The reason behind that depends on whom you ask, but a lot of analysis and beliefs on that question come down to two factors: mental . If this is true, how did the narrative that the US leads the world in mass shootings become the conventional wisdom? The incident was the deadliest attack of its kind since 2002 when a former student shot dead 16 people at a school in Erfurt. Countries with ongoing mass killing episodes are indicated with this icon . According to the University of Alabama's Small Arms Survey, Yemen has experienced more than 40 mass shootings per 100 million people, compared to the US which has had less than 30 per the same study size. A gunman killed four people and injured another two before taking his own life. If you want to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, please submit the form below. Further down the list are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland all tied at 2 mass shooting incidents in that time period with four or more victims. All rights reserved. As a result of these mismatched definitions, database-to-database differences are both common and confounding. In 1999, a mass shooting took place in Ottawa, Ontario. One of the most recent shootings happened in 2016, when a man opened fire in the Olympia shopping mall in Munich, killing nine people and injuring thirty-six others. [Editor's Note: Lankford has since published his research. ", "Firearm and shotgun certificates in England and Wales, financial year ending 2011", "Guns in the United Kingdom: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in the United States: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Uruguay: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Guns in Zimbabwe: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law", "Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010", PDF [https://web.archive.org/web/20190202104515/https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)01030-X/pdf Archived, "How US gun culture stacks up with the world", "Global Mortality From Firearms, 1990-2016", United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (UN-CTS) page, "Deaths Due to Injury by Firearms per 100,000 Population", "Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle-income countries", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate&oldid=1135822173. Cambodia and Vietnam have bans on firearms while Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand have restrictive controls. Here, what mass shootings in other countries can teach the U.S. about gun control: Christchurch, New Zealand Just a week after a white supremacist shot dead 51 worshippers at two mosques in. Image Credit: Flickr-Fibonacci Blue | CC BY 2.0, The Assemblywomen: The Ancient Greek Play That Mercilessly (and Hilariously) Mocked Socialism and Democracy, Legendary Journalist Says He Knows What the Mystery Object Was the US Military Shot Down Over Alaska, The 2 Most Important Words in Jurassic World: Dominion, Proof That Western Progressives Loved Stalinism and Maoism, Despite Their Horrors. The median is considered by many statisticians to be better insulated against individual outlier events (such as the Norway massacre) that can skew results. However, the article conceded that the U.S. experienced 133 shootings during that period, while the next-highest total was Germany with six. The first recognized mass shooting in America occurred in 1966,. In many African countries, mass shootings are not counted as such, but rather are classified as other types of deadly events. The United States reports significantly high rates of mass shootings in comparison to other countries around the world - but extensive debate has been raised about differences in per capita . Sources: As a result, Norways death rate came out more than 20 times higher than that of the U.S.which tallied 66 deaths in 2012 alone (nearly matching Norway's total for the full study) and averaged at least one mass shooting death per month for the entire seven-year data set. The United States of America tops the list of the countries with the most mass shootings, with 101 mass shootings with four or more victims between 1998 and 2019. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Katy Perry breaks down on 'American Idol': 'Our country has f--king failed us! There have been two mass shootings in Italy, ranking the country ninth in the world in terms of the number of mass shootings. We've looked into some of the numbers behind firearms in the US. [1] This is a historical list of countries by firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population in the listed year. Arkansas: 1.33 per million. By our count, the US makes up less than 1.13% of the mass public shooters, 1.77% of their murders, and 2.19% of their attacks. The US is the third largest country by population in the world, behind only China and India. The number of mass shooting incidents in the United States in 2021. "The average incident rate per capita for the 28 EU countries is 0.0602 with a 95% confidence Interval of .0257 to .09477. As a point of comparison, in 2022, the US had 647 mass shooting incidents, but only 12 of these had 3 or more fatalities. The study. This is a sobering statistic, particularly when compared to other developed countries. Greenland GDP per capita is for 2015, the latest available data. Of countries with at least 10 million people, there are more mass shootings per capita in only Yemen, which has the second-highest per-capita rate of gun ownership (the US has the highest).